The hires reflect the groups “targeted regional growth strategy,” said Tamer Rashad, head of Middle East Merrill Lynch Wealth Management.

Hadipour was previously a private banker for Barclays Wealth in Dubai, where he worked on offering private investment banking to high net worth individuals (HNWI) and ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWI) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Aggarwal joins Merrill Lynch from HSBC Private Bank in Dubai, where he was a senior relationship manager covering the ultra-high-net-worth market.

Hachem was a relationship manager at HSBC Private Bank in Beirut, whereas Sinno worked as a relationship manager at HSBC Private Bank focusing primarily on the UAE and Qatar markets.

Hussain was an investment director for a Dubai based family office.

Hadipour, Aggarwal, Hussain and Sinno will be based in Dubai and Hachem will be based in Beirut. Merrill Lynch Wealth Management established its presence in the Middle East 49 years ago with its first office in Beirut.